Page 40 of The Storm of the Empire

“Do you know if it has ever been mixed with any other magics or minerals for added protection on the eggs?”

He thought about it for a moment. “There’s a whole book on the magics used with storm opals in Mom’s office, I think? So I bet they have, but you’d have to ask her.”

“How do you know what’s in Mom’s office?” I asked, mouth agape.

“That’s a really good question.” He held up a finger. “Why are you asking me this stuff and not Mom?”

“I’m not sure I want to bring it to her yet,” I said. She still held duty so highly, and I didn’t want her to take it to the wrong person if I was wrong or if Luka wasn’t telling the truth. “Why are you turning this around on me?”

“Why are you not answering?” He flipped it back again.

“Because she’s busy. You know how much she has on her plate running the training schools.” While not the true reason I didn’t want to bring it to her, it wasn’t a lie. Mom was overworked, but she loved giving back to her community. She wasn’t even upset when she got injured and lost her position in the legion. She grieved the loss of her ryder, of course, but she was happy to be able to work here instead.

“Good answer. I don’t believe you, but since I don’t want to explain mine, I’m not going to make you explain yours.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” I scoffed. “I’m not hiding anything, but you sure are. When did you see this in Mom’s office?”

“Why didn’t you go home during the storm, and why don’t you want Mom to know about your priest friend’s interest in the stones?” he threw back, putting us at a stalemate. “Truce?”

“Truce, but only for now. I will be getting to the bottom of this later.”

“Only if you’re ready to have yourself exposed as well, sister mine,” he said in good humor. We’d always been close. All of us were.

“Are you beginning or ending shift?” I asked my brother, changing the subject.

“Ending. I’ll be home in a while. See you there?”

“Maybe.”

“Fair enough. Goddess speed your search.” Cal returned to his work, and Luka and I went back across the field.

“Are we going to ask your mother?” Luka asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to involve her.” And I didn’t really want to explain Luka’s presence to my family. They didn’t say it, but they hated that their little girl hadn’t found a companion. My parents’ love was so beautiful and easy, it was hard for them to understand anyone else not finding it like they did. And they would see him coming home with me all wrong.

“Not because she’s busy. What is the real reason?”

“Because she’s High Archeiai. She can go to the priests and quickly figure out you’re not one of them, and then she will see through your horseshit even if my brother doesn’t. She won’t believe anything you say if that’s your cover. The people here trust the priests. The Goddess ensures our way of life, and we don’t disrespect that. So not only will she not believe it, if we involve her and she feels that she has to report it, more than just the Storm Kingdom will be told. She will have to take it to the King.”

“We can’t have that. Nyx wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s what I thought.” I said, trying to think.

“How else can we find out if it’s even possible to disguise eggs that way?”

“I need to see that book.”

FOURTEEN

LUKA

“Your boots! Don’t bring those bad habits from the First Kingdom back to my home,”a male voice yelled from deeper into the house as we shuffled inside.

Thankfully, on the way to her family home, Hazel had the mind to find a shop that happened to still be open where we got me some other clothes. Although I didn’t know what we were going to say to her brother if we ran into him again, at least I wouldn’t need to make up a story to her parents about being a priest.

“Sorry, Dad,” Hazel called out in reply, elbowing me where we stood. “He’s not even a dragon,” she muttered, bending down to untie her boots.

I dropped to one knee without hesitation to untie them for her. She pressed her lips into a line but didn’t stop me, so I took my time unlacing them and pulling the first one off. I wasn’t sure why I felt compelled to do it. It just felt right. I looked up at her as I worked on the laces of the second, and a smile broke out on my face as I stared into her eyes. She smiled back, then looked away shyly. It was a vulnerable moment, something she had not let me see in her before, and I liked it.

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